How to care for your cat from the start…

Cats are such independent, proud little creatures that it can almost seem like you’re not really their owner at all. However, you’re surely aware that they need a lot more care and diligence than they would like to admit. Especially when it comes to health care. There are a lot of things you need to make sure you’re doing to take care of your feline friend. Here, we’re going to run through five of the best ways to make sure you’re taking care of your cat from its very first days.

Getting rid of worms

Worms are a very common problem for cats, especially in kittens. This is because most of them get them in pregnancy. De-worming your cat should be a regular thing. Whilst it may seem symptomless for a time, as the worms grow they can cause considerable discomfort. They can also lead to heavy coughing, vomiting, serious weight loss and a plethora of other issues. Worming for cats should be done around four times a year and is fairly easy to do, so don’t skip out on it.

Brush often

Cats are very cleanly creatures. We all know just how much time they spend on preening themselves. Their saliva actually has a natural detergent in them. However, since they’re prone to shedding quite a lot of hair, this means they’re usually ingesting a lot of it, too. Hence the all so famous hairballs. As well as being a mess to clean up in the home, hairballs can cause serious digestive tract problems and even choke a cat. Brush your cat so its excess hair is both off your floor and out of your cat’s way.

Feed them the right stuff

Dry food versus wet food has been a debate raging on for years. Since it has been discovered that cats naturally get most of their water intake from food, we can close the book on dry food for the most part. However, that doesn’t mean cheap wet food will do them any good either. You should take care of your cat’s nutrition and make sure you’re getting them high quality food that will give them all they need to grow healthy. Avoid meat by-products and stick to animal protein sources.

Get them neutered or spayed

The idea that cats are missing out on having children by being de-sexed is a completely human rationale. Cats don’t have babies on the brain and don’t pine for children if they’re infertile. In fact, being in heat can be a very uncomfortable and even distress time for a female cat. Having your cat de-sexed can stop them from developing all kinds of diseases in their reproductive organs, right up to cancer.

Pet insurance

This is very much a personal choice. Some believe that pet insurance is a scam, whereas others will have a cat so prone to hospital visits that they wish they had invested. There’s a lot more to be said about pet insurance, which you can read here, but it is very much a case-to-case decision.

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